Urging parents to talk to their kids and pay attention to what is going on in their lives, one of the area's leading gang experts gave tips yesterday to about two dozen community, education and religious leaders on how to recognize and combat gang activity.
Frank Clark, director of the Gang Intervention and Investigation Unit for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, told his audience at a Catonsville library to be aware of large groups of young adults wearing red or blue colors, and that graffiti with five- or six-point symbols and numbers arranged in a certain order are generally signs of gang activity. Clark said members of the Bloods and the Crips, both national gangs, use these symbols to identify themselves.
Clark showed slides of small children dressed in red or blue bandannas and carrying guns, evidence, he said, that gangs are recruiting members at a young age.
"We do have a growing problem in the state, and my biggest concern is the kids that it's affecting," Clark said. "We've got kids aspiring to be gang members. We've got gang members in Maryland as young as 7 years old. It's an issue."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who hosted the forum, said that about 35 gangs operate in Baltimore County. Cummings said there is a gang presence in every county police precinct.
The Department of Juvenile Services defines a gang as an association of three or more persons that forms to engage in criminal activity.
"A lot of the crime that takes place is as a result of gang activity," Cummings said. "We just wanted to make teachers, principals, parents and others aware as to what to look for when it comes to gang activities, such as the language of the gangs, the colors they wear and the graffiti spray-painted on the walls."
Clark said the Bloods, Crips and MS-13 are national gangs with a loosely connected local presence. He said many members of local gangs claim affiliation with these groups but may not be recognized nationally. "But that doesn't make them any less dangerous," he said.
A study by the National Youth Gang Center found 87 percent of gang members joined before their 16th birthdays, Clark said. He told parents, especially those with high school-age children, to monitor what children look at on the Internet, the clothes they wear and what type of tattoos they get.
"No child of mine is going to go around wearing just one color," Clark said.
